Opinion: Editorials

While Easter is a holy day for those of the Christian faith, it is embraced by some Christians and non-Christians alike in a secular way. The latter involves chocolate, more chocolate, jelly beans and the unholy alliance of animal-shaped marshmallows coated with sugar.

It also happens to coincide with 4/20, the date used by marijuana enthusiasts to promote the legalization of their drug of choice.

So it was unsurprising to see countless jokes about marijuana usage and its link to candy overconsumption last week. (A tweet from the Washington Post summed them up just fine: @washingtonpost The Internet alternates between horror and delight with the realization that Easter falls on 4/20.)

It's hard to keep up with the number of new bills aimed at making the newly legal recreational marijuana industry in Colorado more safe. Suffice it to say, some might not be necessary, but they are hardly the "prohibition" pro-pot alarmists were proclaiming last week.

There have been some serious repercussions related to marijuana in Colorado. Whether or not any of those repercussions are tied to its legalization, suffice it to say that any brand new industry will be evolving. When that new industry remains illegal elsewhere, measures that effectively address public health and safety are prudent.

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Some of the things being explored, in the wake of some terrible crimes — including homicides — and and other problems: Regulating potency in edibles and stricter labeling or packaging rules aimed at keeping kids from accidentally ingesting edibles.

The Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center has reported that in the first four months of legal recreational pot, a half a dozen children have been sickened after ingesting edibles. Two wound up in intensive care. Most children who see a brownie or a jelly within arms reach will not question its suitability before giving it a try; the same may not be said of an unpalatable pill or liquor, which are still dangerous, just less likely to be appealing.

But would better packaging help? What kind of person would leave such a treat within arms' reach of a child? Maybe better labeling would help jar some much-needed common sense in the grown-ups.

Some link the need for more regulations to the death of Levy Thamba, a Wyoming student who jumped to his death after eating a marijuana sweet last month. But the 19-year-old was not a child. He wasn't old enough to buy legal recreational marijuana, his friend provided it to him, willingly. And he reportedly purposefully ate six times the recommended dose.

So more regulations might be warranted, but Thamba's death — while very sad — is unrelated to their design or implementation.

If you decide to celebrate this 4/20, stay safe and keep your sweets far away from children. Nothing would please marijuana enthusiasts or public safety advocates more than if some of these early alarm bells are met with a collective shrug in the future.

That doesn't mean that some minor tweaks along the way — educating consumers on the strength of their drugs and working harder to keep drugs away from children — aren't warranted.

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